Alan's Green Thoughts

We are nearly there, everyone (for those of you in the UK)-2016 elections for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, Northern Ireland Assembly, London Assembly and Mayor, Police & Crime Commissioners, and also for local councils (depending on area) will take place in just six weeks. Scottish Parliament: Despite the fact that the SNP will continue to remain a dominant force in Scottish politics for the time being, the Scottish Green Party is set to make strong gains in this election. Patrick Harvie and Maggie Chapman, the leaders of the SGP, are lead candidates for Glasgow and North East Scotland (Aberdeenshire, the city of Dundee, and the surrounding counties, in essence). Other lead SGP candidates are Sarah Beattie-Smith (South Scotland), Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland & Fife region), John Finnie (Highlands & Islands), Alison Johnstone (Lothians), and Kirsten Robb (West Scotland). There is also a possibility of a Green gain in the Glasgow Kelvin constituency, where Patri

Readers, the results of local by-elections from the last 3 weeks that featured Green Party candidates were as follows: (10/03/16) Cumbria CC, Kendal Strickland & Fell: Liberal Democrats 1067 (59.9%), Labour 307 (17.2%), Conservative 172 (9.7%), Green Party 128 (7.2%), UKIP 106 (6.0%). (24/03/16): Allerdale DC, Dalton: Independent 133 (31.7%), Lab 118 (28.2%), Con 93 (22.2%), UKIP 53 (12.6%), Green 22 (5.3%) Kettering BC, St Peter's: Con 468 (51.0%, +10.8%), Lab 180 (19.6%, -5.5%), UKIP 149 (16.2%, -2.2%), Green 93 (10.1%, -6.3% ), Lib Dem 28 (3.1%). It has been a slow month for local by-elections, partly because we are approaching the 2016 United Kingdom local elections, parliamentary by-elections in Ogmore and Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough, elections for Police and Crime Commissioners, the London Assembly election, the Welsh Assembly election, the Scottish Parliament election, and the Northern Ireland Assembly election. (I will cover these in further det

Earlier today, the first budget of 2016 was announced. Since 2010, when George Osborne first became Chancellor of the Exchequer, every budget has been worse than the last, and this one proved to be no exception. The cuts to taxes on fossil fuels, as well as cuts to corporation tax with no promise to invest more in catching wealthy tax avoiders and tax evaders, are clear signs that this Budget is once again on the side of the rich and powerful, yet the austerity lie is being maintained even with overwhelming evidence that austerity is a total farce. Cuts to capital gains tax, an increase on the threshold on ISAs, and an increase in income thresholds for (relatively) high-income earners are further evidence of this (the amounts concerned are earned by, for example, prosperous middle managers), and none of these measures are necessary when most people do not have over £15,000 saved in ISAs and when the majority of people in the UK earn less than the £26,000 annual average income. Mean

Last night, three states in Germany, specifically Baden-Wurttenberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saxony-Anhalt, held their latest Landtag elections. The German Green Party made history in Baden-Wurttenberg, by finishing first a landtag election poll, and for the very first time. They managed 30.3%, which gave them 47 seats in the Baden-Wurttenberg Landtag, an increase of 11 and placing them ahead of the often-dominant Christian Democratic Union (CDU), giving Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann, who in 2011 became the first ever Green Minister-President of any German Landtag, another term in office. The Social Democrats, the German Greens' coalition partners in Baden-Wurttenberg, were hit badly, though, dropping from 35 seats to 19 and finishing 4th. Our German colleagues' success in Baden-Wurttenberg, however, could not be matched in simultaneous elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Rhineland-Palatinate. The Greens there suffered losses of 4 seats and 12 seats there, and only j

Earlier this week, the Conservatives voted to override the House of Lords and force through cuts of £30 to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) received by claimants in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG). Only three Conservative MPs rebelled against this cruellest of cuts (Heidi Allen, Stephen McPartland and Jeremy Lefroy), which were also not supported by any non-Conservative MP. The bill confirming this is likely to gain Royal Assent soon, alas, given that the Lords cannot delay it any further. I myself claimed WRAG payments whist I was working part-time given that I, like many autistic people, struggle to find full-time work in spite of academic and non-academic achievements. These extra disability payments are not only a necessity instead of a bonus, but they are also insufficient especially given how public sector cuts have impacted on disability support for adults, students, workers, otherwise. And no amount of money can overcome or even ease the problems autistic people

Slovakia held its parliamentary elections yesterday, and as has often been the case in Central and Eastern Europe recently, it did not turn out well for progressive politics. The ruling social-democratic party, Smer-SD (Direction and Social Democracy) was roundly defeated, losing 34 seats out of 83 and more importantly its parliamentary majority. Nevertheless, it remains by a considerable margin the largest political party in the Slovak National Council. The very worrying story of this election is the rise in support amongst Slovaks for hard-right, anti-immigrant, and racist parties. The Slovak National Party and a new group, People's Party-Our Slovakia, entered the Slovak National Council with 8.6% and 8.0% of the vote respectively which gave them 15 seats and 14 seats. 'People's Party-Our Slovakia' is actually a neo-Nazi party similar to the Slovak nationalist and anti-Semitic movement led by Nazi collaborator Jozef Tiso in World War II, whereas the Slovak National

The results of local by-elections that featured Green Party candidates, which occurred on 25 February and 3 March respectively, were as follows: (25/02/16): Dudley MBC, Kingswinford North and Wall Heath: Conservative 1456 (53.8%, +4.0%), Labour 934 (34.5%, +8.4%), UKIP 262 (9.7%, -11.4%), Green 52 (1.9%, -0.7%). (03/03/16): Blackpool UA, Bloomfield: Labour 450 (57.6%,+12.8%), Conservative 150 (19.2% ,-0.6%), UKIP 118 (15.1% ,-10.0%), Green 32 (4.1%,-4.6%), Liberal Democrats 31 (4.0%). Both of these wards were very safe for their respective parties (Conservative and Labour) and therefore the continuing decline of UKIP, particularly in Dudley, is the most noteworthy statistic about these results once again. Onto the subject of parliamentary by-elections and the Green Party, I am pleased to hear that for the Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough by-election, where the date has not yet been announced, we have reselected our 2015 candidate, Christine Gilligan-Kubo. This seat i

Whilst I was away at Green Party conference, the Republic of Ireland held its 2016 general election to elect members to the 32nd Dail. I will point out that at this time of writing that the Longford-Westmeath count has still not quite finished, with two of its seats left to declare. 156 seats including that of Ceann Comhairle (Speaker) Sean Barrett have been filled, though. Despite claims of a 'recovery' which were often repeated throughout the campaign, the Fine Gael-Labour coalition (really more like the UK's previous Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition) was soundly thrashed by the electorate for the misery it caused to many. Labour suffered the heaviest losses, leaving them with just 7 TDs (Teachta Dailas, or members of the Dail) and 6.6% of the first preference vote, their worst result in Irish history. The only consolation at all for them was that the Tanaiste and Labour Party leader Joan Burton kept her seat in Dublin West despite there being a chance she would